#ReviewShare #BookReview #Mystery - Steps Into Darkness (Shakertown Adventure) by @BenSWoodard

Steps Into Darkness by Ben Woodard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book started off slow for me but I recommend that you stick with it. As the mystery develops, the plot becomes tighter and you breeze by the pages as quickly as you can. One of the downfalls of teen mysteries is that sometimes authors are unable to create natural dialogue or settings. This book wasn’t like that.

I enjoyed the story, the editing was close to perfect and the cover was perfect for the title. Simple, to the point and it automatically evoked “mystery” in a reader’s mind. The character interactions were important to me because it was this way that I connected most with the plot and overall story.

For parents or schools looking at setting up book clubs for younger folk, this is a book that must be included. A truly, marvelous read.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.


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Christopher Mannino on What Inspired "School of Deaths" @Ctmannino #YA #Fantasy #GoodReads

What Inspired Me to Write My Book

The idea for SCHOOL OF DEATHS emerged when I was finishing my graduate degree at Oxford University. I spent four months abroad, far from everyone I knew. Every week, I traveled somewhere I had never been before. I would climb castle ruins in Wales and visit cathedrals in England. One of my favorite trips was to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall. After misjudging the time it’d take to get there, I became stranded. The tourist office was closed, and I couldn’t find a hostel. I walked from pub to pub asking if I could sleep above their bar.

The next morning, having slept none, since I’d found a room over a noisy pub, I crept to Barras Nose before dawn. Barras Nose is a stone peninsula, or rocky outcropping jutting into the Celtic Sea, just north of Tintagel. Tintagel itself is a small island with castle ruins on its cliffs. Some believe it to be the birthplace of King Arthur. When I reached Barras Nose, the winds howled so fiercely that I had to crawl on all fours to keep from being blown into the ocean below. Then dawn broke. No other humans were in sight. I struggled to keep my balance, but watched the sun rise on the ruins of the ancient castle, listening to the thunder of waves pounding the fifty foot cliffs I clung to. Wind battered me with ferocity, and I imagined a character being buffeted by winds, completely alone. I envisioned Suzie, alone in a world of men, buffeted by sexism.

Thirteen-year-old Suzie Sarnio always believed the Grim Reaper was a fairy tale image of a skeleton with a scythe. Now, forced to enter the College of Deaths, she finds herself training to bring souls from the Living World to the Hereafter. The task is demanding enough, but as the only female in the all-male College, she quickly becomes a target. Attacked by both classmates and strangers, Suzie is alone in a world where even her teachers want her to fail.

Caught in the middle of a plot to overthrow the World of Deaths, Suzie must uncover the reason she’s been brought there: the first female Death in a million years.

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Genre - YA Fantasy

Rating – PG

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#ReviewShare #BookReview #YA - Devolution by @PeterClenott

Devolution by Peter Clenott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an unusual story with unusual characters. It’s like an older version of Tarzan filled with mystery and drama. Chiku is an endearing character that many teenagers will be able to relate to. Overcoming obstacles and soul searching would be the best two ways to describe this book.

Chiku goes in search of her missing father. Seems normal right? Here’s the twist. She was also raised by chimps. Her second family follows her on an adventure of a lifetime, albeit dangerous adventure and the reader is presented with a story that will stay in their minds for a long time.

In Devolution, Peter Clenott skillfully uses drama, humor, adventure to relate the story of Chiku, the plot is reader friendly and character development consistently sparks reader interaction.

One of the most endearing scenes is when Chiku announces her decision to stay because “the chimpanzees need me.” I thought this was mighty mature of a teenager to put her needs ahead of others. A story that was both informative and intelligent. Must read.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.

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#ReviewShare #BookReview #YALit - Haunted by @EileenMaksym

Haunted by Eileen Maksym
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the cover very much and after reading the book realise the creepy dark eyed creature in the background of the cover. Haunted was a really interesting book. It had a bit of a slow start. The introduction was also puzzling. While the author attributes AP as a news source there is no date or timeline as to when this report was written. This made me think of whether it is real or not? When I searched on Google nothing was found which then makes me wonder if the author should have not included a real news agency or indicated that the report was part of the fictional story.

Haunted was also mysterious which worked great for me because that left some room for me to be surprised. The surprise elements created a lot of appeal for me. The twists and turns meant that not all characters were being honest and were part of the story more than they were letting on.

My favourite part of the book was the bond between Tara and her father. I think the bond some of us have with our parents last a lifetime and although it can’t be explained, some parents look out for their children long after they are gone. The discussion about Paul and Tara kissing was a little childish and this occasionally happened in other parts of the book as well. Other than this tiny flaw, I was able to lose myself in the pages and liked the book very much.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.

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HJ Lawson Dissects #Twitter Interactions for Authors @hjlawson1 #AmWriting #PubTip

I attended a New York Writers Workshop in November; The Pitch Conference; one of the speakers John Cusick from Greenhouse publishing recommended that you build a social platform. He said that had tried blogging, and it wasn't for him; but twitter seemed to work for him, he had 6998 followers.

Sitting at the conference wondering how I would build my social platform when I was not able to speak about my book, because at this point; I had just begun my queries into how to get it published.

Leaving the conference with a new insight into the writing world; I continued to write, edit, delete and repeat. The idea of building my social network was always in the back of my head.

Fast forward to January, book one complete, and currently with one agent and two publishing houses. What if they don't pick up my book? This crossed my mind again and again, so I decided it was time to build my social network. Time to prepare for self-publishing.

I set myself an ultimatum; if I don't hear back for the agent or publishing house by April; I will begin the self-publishing process. I needed to raise money to get my book professionally edited; so I decided to try Kickstarters to help me raise the funds. Crowd funding only works well when you have a crowd to work with; I needed to build a social network.

I tried starting with a blog and I it was taking too much time; I work full time as a designer, and have an active 5 year old little girl. I didn't have time to blog, and my first novel needed editing, I have the typo/grammar curse.

My current schedule allows me fourteen hours a week; twelve hours spent on the new book and two on marketing, meaning I have to plan my time wisely.

In the past, I had signed up for Twitter, but never understood the reason behind it, but I thought I would give it a try with a fresh perspective. Signing up with my pen name, and began to follower writers and indie writers for writing tips etc. After a few days, I became addicted and followed more people who had the same interests as me.

Within three weeks of being on twitter, I had 1835 followers, one of my tweets retweeted 303 times and I have posted 466 tweets with writing tips from authors. I spent 10 minutes in the morning, tweeting/retweeting and following back. Not a bad start.

Today I have 9000 followers, which took around 4 months.From twitter, I have gained knowledge from other authors, received help and motivation tips, and some of my twitter followers have begun to follow me on Facebook.

Tip 1 - once you get to 2000 follows you are blocked from adding more, in the evening I delete 100 people which are not following me back on www.justunfollow.com (100 per day is free).

Tip 2 – Follow people that you find interesting, it’s not all about the numbers it is about the content of the tweets from the people you are following.

Tip 3 - Try converting Twitter fans into Facebook fans; because it is easier to build a fan base quickly on Twitter without paying for it, unlike Facebook.

Tip 4 – Remember it is a social platform, be social and don’t constantly tweet ‘buy my book’

Tip 5 – Find the social network platform that works for you, and stick at it.

Hayley Lawson is the author of War Kids. She has written a young adult contemporary novel set in Syria; a story about the Syrian Civil war though the eyes of children.

She was born in Lancaster, England. Growing up in a single parent household with five other siblings; was hard, and also character building.

As a young child she found a passion for drawing, and continued this into adulthood, graduating from the University of Central Lancashire, England with a BA(Hons) in fashion design.

At aged twenty seven, Hayley and her husband packed up their belongings for a lifelong dream to move to California. Her America dream was complete with the birth of her daughter. Her love for traveling, continued after the birth of her daughter traveling around America with the family, and the best travelled dog.

A new job positioned opened up New York, and the family decide to relocate to Long Island, NY, which is where she currently resides.

On August 21 she was moved by the images of the Syrian conflict, and embarked on an unlikely journey of writing her first novel.

All profits from the book will be going to the save the children charity.

When fourteen-year-old Jada wakes up in a hospital, the last thing she thinks is that her life has completely changed forever. But when the very real civil war forces her to flee from every open space, she must use the firearm skills her father taught her to reunite with him and protect herself. Armed with a single gun and a key to an unknown locker, Jada crosses Syria on a journey with a group of children called the Fearless Freedom Fighters. With the leader, Zak, they mount a plan to rescue their fathers while they try to cope with the merciless murders of their families. As Jada and Zak lead the group together, love blossoms, but with soldiers hot on their tail, they need to stay vigilant in the face of war.

Reviews from Wattpad

Very interesting story, very powerful. I can really feel the emotion...Peter

This book really touches my heart because there is so much truth is in this book. The detail is so brilliantly displayed, its beautifuly written. There are pretty intense chapters, its good... scrap that its excellent. Loe the work ...although I am upset. I know this is a fictional story, but I just can't help but feel extremely bad for all the lost lives especially the innocent and young ones...Saddy

A REMARKABLE BOOK, DEMANDS TO BE READ Goodreads review from Joe Eliseon

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Genre - Young Adult 

Rating – PG-13

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SIX STRINGS by Jen Sanya Williamson @Jen_Sanya #YA #TimeTravel #GoodReads

I get on the phone and call Nathan. “I’m almost there.”

“Cool,” Nathan says in his laidback way. “She’s moved on to the obscure Applecart cocktail. She just chided the bartender for not having apple brandy on hand. He’s taking it in stride.”

“Thank goodness you found her,” I say as I screech to a stop at a light. I shift in my seat with impatience as traffic seems to crawl in front of me. “I didn’t even know she ran off.”

“We’re all right,” Nathan assures me. “Just get here soon. She’s eliciting a few stares. Not that the clientele of the Hotel Congress are very discriminating, but you know.”

“Does she seem confused?”

“Well, she knows who I am,” Nathan says, “but she can’t tell me how she got here.”

“Okay, I’m almost there,” I respond, slamming on the gas as soon as the light twitches to green.

My grandmother isn’t always in a state of confusion. A lot of the time, she’s my Mary: she knows who she is, who I am, and our entire history. But there’s no real guidebook for this disease. Some days she is completely lucid, other days her memory is only slightly muddled. But recently, she seems really mixed up. Thankfully, even on these bad days, she finds her way to memories for flashes here and there, but I have no idea how long that will last. Unfortunately, I know eventually they will be lost forever. I know we are running out of time.

Riley Witt is running out of time.Battling Alzheimer’s disease, Riley’s grandmother Mary suffers from memory loss, mood swings, and a tendency to wander off.

As senior year approaches, Riley has to face the reality that the one person she depends on most is slowly fading. Making matters worse, when Mary does remember the past, she tells tales of time travel and visions. As Mary’s version of the past gets more confused, Riley knows they are running out of time together.

But when Riley discovers a guitar belonging to a famous rock star at Mary’s house, the truth behind the crazy tales finally comes out.

SIX STRINGS tells the story of Riley’s journey back to 1973 where she enters a world of music, long-lost family, and first love. Her adventure is all about discovering her past, understanding her present, and figuring out how to step into her future.

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Genre – Young Adult

Rating – PG-13

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10 Things You Didn't Know About Sophia: Within by @JordyLizama #BookClub #YA #Fantasy

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Sophia:Within

1 I started writing the book when I was 15 years old

2 Sophia was originally named Lauren, the actual name is inspired by my daughter who is named the same.

3 The character I most enjoyed writing about was Dennis, somewhere along the way he became all of my brothers, I just love him.

4 Sophia began more like a fantasy novel, she was supposed to be a fairy.

5 The preface is the first part I wrote of the book. It’s the only part that has remained the same through all the years and editing.

6 After I finished the preface and first chapter I thought I sucked, so I deleted it. Thankfully it took me 4 years to empty my trash can and find it there.

7 Sophia:Within was originally named The Enchantress.

8 After I rescued the book from my computer bin it took me less than a month to complete it all.

9 The first person that read the preface of the book was my sister Michelle, she loved it and wanted to read more of it.

10 Sophia:Within was supposed to be just one book, but the story kept going, so I decided to divide it into two.

Only time will tell if Sophia, Alec and the world are ready to accept the mission that has been passed down for many generations. This is more than a story of reincarnation. This is a story that never ended following the reign of the Greek gods. What has been hidden for thousands of years is about to surface in a small New England town. 

The impact on this rural village is ageless, but only the chosen time travelers know what is happening, the reason it is happening and how to control the outcome. The Men of Ages have walked the Earth unnoticed since the time of Greek mythology and have kept their ancient war alive by transporting the lead warrior in a most unusual time machine. 

There is only one way to stop the cataclysmic demise of the human race and Sophia is the answer. But, Sophia is a teenage girl faced with many human and nonhuman desires that create a tortuous path from antiquity to the present day. Love conquers all; or, so it seems.

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Genre – Fantasy, YA 

Rating – PG

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@Vanna_Smythe on the 7-Point Story Structure #WriteTip #YA #Dystopian

How to Write by the Seat of Your Pants: Outline or No?

I am a seat-of-the-pants writer by nature and inclination. However, after having written four books, I have found that devising a working outline of a book prior to starting writing helps me stay on track.  I do not plan out each scene or chapter, but I have found the basic story structure formula to be a very good guide for keeping a book on track.

The formula I currently use is the 7-Point Story Structure, which lets you map out the important, pivotal points in your story, namely the hook, first plot point, midpoint, second plot point and resolution, as well as the two pinches where the villains rear their ugly heads.  The author Dan Wells did a great presentation of this formula, and you can watch that on You Tube, so I won’t go into detail here.

These days, I basically plan my characters, setting, main conflicts and the resolution before I start writing. Knowing how a book will end helps me plan the beginning, and weave in the necessary transformation that needs to occur in the main characters.  It also helps me to stay on track with the plot, since knowing the ending helps me target everything I write towards it. That is not to say that my plans don’t sometimes change, but such is the reality and magic of being a seat of the pants writer.

With my latest Progeny of Time YA dystopian series I actually have the first three books all planned out in terms of their endings, which lets me write them so much faster.  I published the first book in the series, The Grower’s Gift in mid-May, and I plan to have the second book ready and available by the end of July.

The future is bleak in the year 2102. The planet is in chaos and the weather patterns have completely shifted, turning most of the world into an uninhabited wasteland.

The rich and powerful of North America have pulled back into the six remaining megacities, erasing all trace of a central government and leaving millions displaced by the environmental crisis to fend for themselves in the dying world.

Sixteen-year-old Maya has a gift, a power she thinks can heal the earth and make it habitable again. A gift that she must learn to harness. The school for the gifted in Neo York is the only place where she can learn to control her power and reach her potential.

Yet the school is not what it seems. Ran by the ruthless head of the city of Neo York, the school’s only objective is to extract the powers of the gifted and then discard them. Only Ty, heir to the city, can keep Maya from being destroyed there. But Ty has a secret, and his loyalty to his family has never wavered.

Will his growing love for Maya be strong enough to save them both?

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Genre - YA Dystopian

Rating – PG-13

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Website www.vannasmythe.com

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THE WINGS OF DRAGONS (Dragoon Saga) by @JoshVanBrakle #Fantasy #Fiction #BYNR

He was flying.

No, that didn’t make sense, because Iren could feel solid ground beneath his feet. Darkness surrounded him; he fluttered his hand in front of his face but couldn’t see it at all. The floor, if one existed, felt like flat stone. He took a few steps. The hollow ring of each footfall unnerved him. With trepidation he called, “Hello?” but only his nervous breathing replied. He reached for the Muryozaki, but it had disappeared from his hip. Fear took hold. Somehow, he had become lost in an infinite void without even a weapon to protect him.

Just as his desperation grew too great, a faint light appeared in the distance. At first Iren took it for a star, but it grew bigger the longer he stared. It soon took the form of a great undulating serpent with majestic wings, bursts of light erupting in every direction with each wingbeat. The vast majority of the dragon, for it could be nothing else, was of the purest white, with a few sky blue streaks accentuating the lines of its massive yet elegant body. Most impressive of all, however, were its eyes. Even from far away, they shone with a blue that bore through the blackness.

As the dragon flew closer, its light swallowed the shadows so that Iren nearly forgot they had ever engulfed him in the first place. The creature’s glow did not act like a beacon in the night, guiding ships to shore like the lighthouse at Ceere. Rather, it simply made the darkness go away, so that there was no need for such a lantern.

Iren gulped as the beast’s size truly came into perspective. Its eyes alone measured over five feet in diameter. The dragon’s teeth offered no comfort; each was longer than Iren’s entire body and had an edge that made the Muryozaki look like a worn butter knife.

The creature landed on four legs, each with three claws longer and sharper still than its fangs, and came into striking range. Iren expected it to devour him, but instead the dragon lowered its head in a deep bow of respect. The gesture so astonished Iren that he could do nothing but stare and take in the strange beauty of the awe-inspiring reptile. Long blue hair grew all along its spine, and two gigantic blue whiskers, each as thick as Iren’s thigh, adorned its face.

At last the dragon rose and, giving Iren a curious expression, loosed a low grumble, which sounded more like a sigh than anything threatening. Then, with a booming voice that shook the very fabric of the universe, the creature said, “So you are my knight. You are Iren Saitosan.”

From fantasy author Josh VanBrakle comes an epic new trilogy of friendship, betrayal, and explosive magic. Lefthanded teenager Iren Saitosan must uncover a forgotten history, confront monsters inspired by Japanese mythology, and master a serpentine dragon imprisoned inside a katana to stop a revenge one thousand years in the making.

Lodian culture declares lefthanded people dangerous and devil-spawned, and for Iren, the kingdom’s only known Left, that’s meant a life of social isolation. To pass the time and get a little attention, he plays pranks on the residents of Haldessa Castle. It’s harmless fun, until one of his stunts nearly kills Lodia’s charismatic heir to the throne. Now to avoid execution for his crime, Iren must join a covert team and assassinate a bandit lord. It’s a suicide mission, and Iren’s chances aren’t helped when he learns that his new katana contains a dragon’s spirit, one with a magic so powerful it can sink continents and transform Iren into a raging beast.

Adding to his problems, someone on Iren’s team is plotting treason. When a former ally launches a brutal plan to avenge the Lefts, Iren finds himself trapped between competing loyalties. He needs to figure out who – and how – to trust, and the fates of two nations depend on his choice.

“A fast-paced adventure…led by a compelling cast of characters. Josh VanBrakle keeps the mysteries going.” - ForeWord Reviews

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Genre – YA epic fantasy

Rating – PG-13

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Website www.joshvanbrakle.com

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@PMPillon's Thoughts on Applying Memories To Writing #WriteTip #AmWriting #SciFi

Our writing relies on our perceptions, leading us down a bright or dark path if that’s how we see the world but and are infinite in variety. For instance in Dostoyevsky’s case appreciating and writing about appalling privation because he himself experienced it as a starving writer and Solzhenitsyn also as a state prisoner. Who can fail to be moved by the young man’s utter destitution in Crime And Punishment, or the Gulag convict fussing over his boots without which he would be a dead man walking?

However, there are also cases of a writer’s life being a stark contrast from her or his writing, such as Guy de Maupassant who wrote beautifully and auspiciously even as he lived a life of depression and ultimately wrote as his epitaph: “I have coveted everything and taken pleasure in nothing.” 

We are a sum of our parts and at the same time we are a continuum, experiencing myriad states of life most often without even realizing it, with all aspects such as memories morphing into differing levels of appreciation. We forget most events and remember only a fraction, and we sometimes wish the two would transpose and we could forget that pedestrian remark dad made and instead remember something he said about mom when she was ill. If every single memory is still somewhere in our brain, until and unless a method for total recall is discovered we are forced to play with the cards we’re dealt; trudging through life with limited recollections that we can mine for our writing. A week ago I had a dream that I recognized as being a basis for a entire book as my previous books have been, but within seconds I forgot it and it’s clearly gone for good.

If we’re writing about a man whose girl friend has left him or vice versa, it helps to have some memories under our belt about amorous relationships. Writing blind about events with which we have no experience can still work if we have learned about them from observation or stories we heard from others, but it’s more problematic because more care must be taken to attain plausibility.

And ultimately our writing style will likely be the decider, such as the case of William Faulkner who gave up trying to mimic or emulate others and just wrote in his own consciousness stream and prose based on his experiences that eventually earned him universal praise and a Nobel Prize for Literature.

His celestial companion was waiting for him

Precariously climbing a sea-side cliff near Big Sur, ten-year-old Joey Blake was as yet unaware that near his grasp was an object, so odd, mysterious and alien to earth that it would change his life forever and the lives of countless others in the next few astonishing days. Reaching up as far as he could for a handhold it was just there; it had subconsciously lured him, occupied his mind, and made him find it. It was like he was meant to see and discover this object of unimaginable power … the power to change reality.

Time travel and more
This young adult series of sci-fi fantasy novels begins with The Reality Master and continues through four other exciting and amazing stories about time travel and mysterious alien devices. Joey and the reader will face dangerous shadowy criminal organizations, agents of the NSA, bizarre travelers from other times and even renegade California bikers and scar-faced walking dead.

- Vol 1 The Reality Master
- Vol 2 Threat To The World
- Vol 3 Travel Beyond
- Vol 4 Missions Through Time
- Vol 5 The Return Home

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Genre – Science fiction, Fantasy, Young adult

Rating – G

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#ReviewShare #BookReview #PNR - Date with the Dead (Ripsters, #1) by @CMyersFiction

Date with the Dead by Chris Myers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chris Myers uses Date with the Dead to explore the most impressionable relationships for a teenager. Friendship, young love and the stress of falling in with mum's plans are some of the challenges Jolie faces in her new school. This book was a much lighter version of The Ghost Whisperer tv series and the old cat man loved it.

I liked Chris Myers' snappy writing. From start to finish, the reader has a clear sense of what is happening. Drew's character was more important to me because he was the one who propelled Jolie towards who she could be. In terms of character, Jolie is exceptional and it's really hard not to fall in love with this "ripster." If there was one thing about the book I did not like, it did sometimes feel there were too many characters grabbing the limelight from Jolie.

The cat man's favourite scene? When they the sheriff that someone shot Distal and he insists he doesn't believe in ghosts. The irony of it all as he soon starts to soften towards Jolie's 'abilities.' Highly recommended.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.


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#ReviewShare #BookReview #SciFi - Transcender: First-Timer (Transcender, #1) by @SavageVicky

Transcender: First-Timer by Vicky Savage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jaden starts off as a promising character but somewhere between her stilted dialogue and unreal way in which she could be all childlike one minute and a grown up the next. Characters like Ralston, Ryder, Drew and Maria were at times more focused in the plot that Jaden was.

So why read the book? Because the writing will take you to a whole different world, literally. If it weren't the cover, I wouldn't even have given a thought to the author being self-published but in all honesty, the cat man says, with a cover like that, people are definitely going to be thinking twice about picking up the book.

The problem most writers have with science fiction is world building. They aspire to create a world which can suck the human reader in to the point we don't want to leave. Vicky Savage does exactly this and because she gave me a cliffhanger ending, I made sure to read the second book in the series as well which was even better than the first. Extremely talented writer who deserves more readers for a long time to come.

Disclosure - As a Quality Reads UK Book Club member, I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for my book review. This book review is based on my thoughts, opinion and understanding of the book. This book review does not reflect the opinion of other book club members.



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The Inspired Writer: Claudette Melanson Shares Rising Tide’s Playlist #Vampire #Romance #YA

For every writer, there’s a unique recipe for inspiration.  The right conditions come together to somehow feed the story in the mind.  Some authors dream scenes while sleeping, others glean ideas from movies they’ve watched or books they’ve read.  For many, one of the biggest sources of inspiration comes from music.  All these elements have come into play for my own writing, but music has had the biggest influence on the ideas flowing onto my laptop screen.

There are many authors who share novel playlists publicly.  Stephenie Meyer includes her playlists for the Twilight novels right on her web site.  I can remember reading Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely and being surprised to see her novel’s playlist printed right in the back of the book, amazed to discover I wasn’t the only one to build these!  8tracks.com even has a collection of novel playlists which allow you click on the list and play the all the songs included.

I’ve read blog posts by authors who use playlists, and many have a list of songs they place on shuffle and listen to while writing.  Some even suggest listening to this list when not writing, to start the flow of future ideas.  I’m all for listening to a complete list during times don’t have my work in front of me.  This exercise takes the mind back to the creative space, and who knows what may emerge, even when not ‘officially‘ writing.  But, when I sit down with the sole intent of working on one of my novels, I practice a method my husband thinks is a little crazy.

Each of my chapters has its own song, on rare occasions, more than one.  It’s a must I have a song in place to set the mood for the action in the scene I’m writing.  And…I listen to that song over and over, for the whole duration that chapter or scene is being written.  I just can’t listen to anything else; it breaks the mood for me.  When the scene shifts, sometimes within a chapter, it’s time for a new song.  If I don’t change the tune to fit the text, it can kill the flow of ideas for me, the song so completely becomes a part of the world I step into and try to recreate on my screen.

Playlists not only help me create stories, but the playlists I’ve discovered by other authors have turned me on to a wealth of great new songs and artists.  Before I read the Twilight playlist, I’d never heard of the band Muse.  Now I certainly can’t imagine my life without them!  Looking for the perfect chapter song is another way I’ve discovered some great new music.  Sometimes I don’t have a song in my collection that fits the next scene, so I go hunting.  One method I use to find that perfect song has been to Google the word lyrics, along with a phrase that describes the emotional feel of the chapter or section.  One of my typical searches may be something like:  “lyrics nightmare world” or “lyrics heart on fire.”  I’ve found a lot of fine music this way, and discovered some of my other favorite bands like Anberlin and The Spill Canvas.

Now, without further ado, I’ll share my, personal playlist for my novel, Rising Tide:  Dark Innocence:

Playlist for Rising Tide:  Dark Innocence:

Chapter 1 – “Born Like This” by Three Days Grace

Chapter 2 – “Popular” by The Veronicas & “One of a Kind” by Placebo”

Chapter 3 – “Be My Escape” by Reliant K

Chapter 4 – “Saved” by The Spill Canvas

Chapter 5 – “Broken” by Seether & Amy Lee & “Trouble” by Coldplay

Chapter 6 – “You Make Me Smile” by Blue October

Chapter 7 – “Ordinary Day” by Vanessa Carlton

Chapter 8 – “Vampire” by Antsy Pantsy & “Learn You Inside Out” by Lighthouse

Chapter 9 – “Losing You” by Dead by April & “Lies” by Evanescence

Chapter 10 – “That Song” by Big Wreck & “Bleed (I Must be Dreaming)” by Evanescence

Chapter 11 – “Conspiracy” by Paramore

Chapter 12 – “Fever Dreams” by Dashboard Confessional & “Life on Earth” by Band of Horses & “Almost Lover” by A Fine Frenzy

Chapter 13 – “One Year Six Months” by Yellowcard

Chapter 14 – “Lovesick Mistake” by Erin McCarley

Chapter 15 – “Bleeding Heart” by Acceptance

Chapter 16 – “Hurt Me” by Aiden

Chapter 17 – “All I Ever Wanted” by Adrian Lux

CHOSEN AS ONE OF 400 FOR THE SECOND ROUND OF THE AMAZON BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL AWARD FOR 2014!!!

ARE YOU A FAN OF VAMPIRE ROMANCE?

Rising Tide will sink it’s teeth into you, keeping you awake into the wee hours of the night

Maura’s life just can’t get any worse…or can it?

Isolated and sheltered by her lonely mother, Maura’s never been the best at making friends. Unusually pale with a disease-like aversion to the sun, she seems to drive her classmates away, but why?

Even her own father deserted her, and her mother, before Maura was born. Bizarre physical changes her mother seems hell bent on ignoring, drive Maura to fear for her own life. And her luck just seems to get worse.

Life is about to become even more bewildering when her mother’s abrupt…and unexplained…decision to move a country away sets off a chain of events that will change Maura forever. A cruel prank turned deadly, the discovery of love and friendship….and its loss, as well as a web of her own mother’s lies, become obstacles in Maura’s desperate search for a truth she was never prepared to uncover.

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Genre – YA Paranormal Romance

Rating – PG

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Connect with Claudette Melanson on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://claudettemelanson.wix.com/author

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@JR_Tague's #WriteTip on Why #Book Covers are So Important #AmReading #YA

We all know the old adage about how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, right? Riiiiight. And we also shouldn’t eat an entire bag of potato chips in one sitting, or stay up until 2am on a weeknight watching I ROBOT on TV for the hundredth time. But we still totally do. It can’t just be me, can it? So to that end, why live in denial? Why don’t we just embrace the fact? After all, there’s another saying: a picture’s worth a thousand words. I am just FULL of these today.

See, reading is all about imagination. A good book gives you just enough detail to get you started on imagining the world in which it takes place. The rest is up to the reader. That’s part of the pleasure. And also part of the reason why it’s so very hard to read when you’re tired. Because reading engages your brain. You combine the author’s words with your own visuals to create a beautiful collaboration born of your combined imaginations. Or, I dunno. Maybe you’re not good at imagining and it looks more like a crappy stick-figure land. I don’t know your life. But I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

What I’m saying is, to get to that point in a book it takes some time. And most human beings are famously, annoyingly short on time. We’ve got chips to eat, Will Smith movies to watch. We ain’t got time to bleed...er, to waste on imaginary lands we’re not interested in. Therefore, we‘re always looking for shortcuts. We want some quick indication of whether a book is worth investing our time in or not.

And that is where book covers come in.

Book covers aren’t always an accurate representation of the story within. BUT WHAT IF THEY WERE? How great would that be? If I could pick up a book and immediately see dinosaurs with laser guns and exploding volcanos and hot-but-sensitive time traveler heroes riding said dinosaurs (any dude worth his salt would befriend dinosaurs instead of fighting them) and fighting robots, and I could know that’s actually what I’d find inside, I’d be all “sign me up!” That sale would be completed before it even started. (Somebody please write that book.)

However, if I found that book in a store today, I’d have to be cautious about my excitement. I’ve been burned too many times before, see. There are so many exciting covers out there that mask boring stories. And the reverse is true too. Anyone read Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker series? I got into it because I loved ENDER’S GAME and a friend suggested it to me. Also, the cover of the first book isn’t too awful. But by the time you get to HEARTFIRE, all bets are off. It looks like a cheesy dime store romance novel. Not an awesome alternate history fantasy adventure novel. I mean, yeah. The title doesn’t help much. But it’s the picture that makes it especially embarrassing.

Expectation is important in novels. You have to set up your reader with certain expectations…and then deliver on them. That’s how you keep readers happy. And the cover art for your book is the beginning of that. It needs to reflect what’s inside. It needs to capture the essence of your story. It needs to represent those thousand words, and hopefully more. Because if it doesn’t, you’re going to have at least one sad, disappointed reader with a new laser dino covered door prop.

Max McKay gets a second chance at life when, after a bizarre accident on his sixteenth birthday, he is reanimated as a new breed of thinking, feeling zombie. To secure a spot for his eternal soul, Max must use his video game prowess as well as the guidance of Steve the Death God to make friends and grow up. As if all that weren’t hard enough, Max discovers that he’s not the only zombie in town. As he enlists the help of his new friends, Adam and Penny, to solve the mystery of their un-dead classmate, Max discovers that he must level up his life experience in order to survive the trials and terrors of the upcoming zombie apocalypse. And, even worse, high school.

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Genre – YA

Rating – PG

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Connect with J R Tague on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://jrtague.wordpress.com/

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